Plan on driving a new car on a 3000mile highway trip. Bad idea?

On Fri, 16 May 2008 02:03:33 +0000, Jeff wrote:

>> You change your oil once a year whether it needs it or not, right?
>
> No. I change my oil when it needs it, which is every 5000 mi or so.

Good for you.

The manual says every 7,500 miles. So, why is 5,000 better than 7,500? Or
better than 3,000? Let's see what jim moonbeam has to say about this.

On Thu, 15 May 2008 19:27:26 -0700, SMS wrote:

> Jeff wrote:
>
>> Real evidence, not anecdotes.
>
> Usenet, as we know it, would cease to exist if real evidence were provided
> instead on anecdotal evidence.
>
>> The plural of anecdote is not data.
>
> I like that!

Like I told Jeff, who just likes to argue to argue, come on over and we'll
start the 23 year old Corolla.

In article <Q%5Xj.11721$mc1.8232@trndny08>,
Jeff <kidsdoc2000@m> wrote:

> Yet, none of this shows that changing oil too often makes a difference.
> Clearly, changing it often enough does, but more often than that is a
> waste of money and resources.

Question: would the sludge-filled Toyota engines have benefited from 3K
changes vs. 5K or 7.5K changes?

The fact is, the carmakers put out products of sometimes questionable
quality. The Toyota sludging engines are an example. We, the
consumers, won't know this until it's too late.

3K changes are insurance against that.

Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
> In article <Q%5Xj.11721$mc1.8232@trndny08>,
> Jeff <kidsdoc2000@m> wrote:
>
>> Yet, none of this shows that changing oil too often makes a difference.
>> Clearly, changing it often enough does, but more often than that is a
>> waste of money and resources.
>
> Question: would the sludge-filled Toyota engines have benefited from 3K
> changes vs. 5K or 7.5K changes?
>
> The fact is, the carmakers put out products of sometimes questionable
> quality. The Toyota sludging engines are an example. We, the
> consumers, won't know this until it's too late.
>
> 3K changes are insurance against that.
>

the /correct/ insurance against that is opening the oil filler cap and
looking inside once in a while. you should do that anyway when checking
for fluid levels, leaks, etc., as with many cars, it's where you'll see
first signs of head gasket leakage.

In article <jJhXj.1055$BL6.148@nlpi070.nbdc.sbc.com>,
SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:

> > Question: would the sludge-filled Toyota engines have benefited from 3K
> > changes vs. 5K or 7.5K changes?
> >
> > The fact is, the carmakers put out products of sometimes questionable
> > quality. The Toyota sludging engines are an example. We, the
> > consumers, won't know this until it's too late.
> >
> > 3K changes are insurance against that.
>
> No they're not. Well they are, but so are 5000 mile changes. The
> sludging was from owners following the 7500 mile interval.

Well, my point is that the sludging occurred when following the factory
recommended interval. Then it came out: y'all weren't changing your
oil often enough. Then it all came out: Toyota screwed up in the
design of that engine.

If we can't trust the factory engineer recommendations from Toyota, then
it's in our own hands to determine what a comfortable interval would be
to try to eliminate such problems.

Hachiroku ��ロク wrote:
> On Fri, 16 May 2008 02:03:33 +0000, Jeff wrote:
>
>>> You change your oil once a year whether it needs it or not, right?
>> No. I change my oil when it needs it, which is every 5000 mi or so.
>
>
> Good for you.
>
> The manual says every 7,500 miles. So, why is 5,000 better than 7,500? Or
> better than 3,000? Let's see what jim moonbeam has to say about this.

The car's manual says every 5,000 mi.

Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
> In article <Q%5Xj.11721$mc1.8232@trndny08>,
> Jeff <kidsdoc2000@m> wrote:
>
>> Yet, none of this shows that changing oil too often makes a difference.
>> Clearly, changing it often enough does, but more often than that is a
>> waste of money and resources.
>
> Question: would the sludge-filled Toyota engines have benefited from 3K
> changes vs. 5K or 7.5K changes?
>
> The fact is, the carmakers put out products of sometimes questionable
> quality. The Toyota sludging engines are an example. We, the
> consumers, won't know this until it's too late.
>
> 3K changes are insurance against that.

Not if the engine is subject to sludging.

And if the threads on the oil drain plug or where the oil filter goes
get damaged, you could easily run out of oil.

Jeff

In article <NumXj.417$H91.162@trndny09>, Jeff <kidsdoc2000@m>
wrote:

> > 3K changes are insurance against that.
>
> Not if the engine is subject to sludging.
>
> And if the threads on the oil drain plug or where the oil filter goes
> get damaged, you could easily run out of oil.
>
> Jeff

In which case, you will now hear from the people who swear by those
replacement flip-valve plugs.

On Fri, 16 May 2008 20:50:33 +0000, Jeff wrote:

>>>> You change your oil once a year whether it needs it or not, right?
>>> No. I change my oil when it needs it, which is every 5000 mi or so.
>>
>>
>> Good for you.
>>
>> The manual says every 7,500 miles. So, why is 5,000 better than 7,500?
>> Or better than 3,000? Let's see what jim moonbeam has to say about this.
>
> The car's manual says every 5,000 mi.

OK. Good for you.

For years Toyota recommended 7,500 mile oil changes.

Have a look on Toyota.com and see what's recommended.

On Fri, 16 May 2008 08:03:11 -0400, Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:

> In article <Q%5Xj.11721$mc1.8232@trndny08>,
> Jeff <kidsdoc2000@m> wrote:
>
>> Yet, none of this shows that changing oil too often makes a difference.
>> Clearly, changing it often enough does, but more often than that is a
>> waste of money and resources.
>
> Question: would the sludge-filled Toyota engines have benefited from 3K
> changes vs. 5K or 7.5K changes?

Probably. They probably would have benefitted from people just changing
the oil in the first place. Most people that had these problems were the
people who changed the oil every 12,000 miles whether it needed it or not.